MEDIA — An octogenarian and former hunter concerned about protecting himself. A gun advocate outlining the multi-faceted dynamic of violence. A mayor in a city where homicides aren’t uncommon and a mourning mother wanting no others to know her pain.

All four, and many others, converged within a block area, and for a moment, faced each other, as two sides of universal background checks for gun sales came to Delaware County Saturday to advocate for their positions.

About 150 people with Delaware County United for Sensible Gun Policy walked seven miles from Calvary Baptist Church, where the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. once preached in Chester, to the Providence Friends Meeting House in Media, where another 100 joined for a rally in support of universal background checks on gun sales was held.

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Around 1 p.m., another set of 100 people gathered at Baltimore Avenue and Providence Road to show their support for Second Amendment Rights. Many of them openly carried their weapons and voluntarily moved to the Starbucks side of the street to allow for the background check advocates to pass on the other as they sang, “We Shall Overcome.”

“Background checks don’t work,” Darren Wolfe, who was coordinating the rally countering the call for universal background checks. “They have no effect on the crime rates.”

He pointed to Media and Chester as examples of the complex problem of violence.

“Media and Chester are both under the same gun laws and yet, Chester has a higher murder rate than Media,” Wolfe said. “It has to do with things like the perceived legitimacy of social institutions, government, whether society is fractured along religious, racial, ideological, ethnic lines.

“It has to do with how people view their position … in the social hierarchy,” he continued. “If people tend to feel held down, they tend to be more violent.”

He said the United States’ murder rate of 4.8 per 100,000 is less than many other countries.

“The murders tend to be concentrated in certain areas,” Wolfe said. “The vast majority of the United States is extremely peaceful.”

Counter rally participant Gerry Zell of Brookhaven explained that gun owners who sell to other gun owners ask for permits or drivers’ licenses prior to selling because of the liability.

“If something happens, it comes back to me,” he said.

Mark Fiorino of Media said gun control advocates want to restrict all gun access, making it more difficult for people to protect their families because of the bad actions of some.

“It simply doesn’t make sense,” he said. “They’re not looking at efficient ways to address the problem.”

Jack Harper of Brookhaven sat on the curb as he waved the American flag he bought at Booth’s Corner.

“We would never, ever think of harming anyone,” he said as he recalled hunting near the former Riddle estate decades ago near where he lived in Lima. “They’re just trampling our rights.”

He questioned how universal background checks would work.

“How’s that going to impact … the slaughter on the streets?” Harper asked. “That’s not going to impact the crooks. (The gun control advocates) want my guns.”

He spoke of when he owned a welding business and had to go into inner-city neighborhoods in Philadelphia.

“I decided I’m going to have to carry,” Harper said. “I didn’t want to. The crack vials were on the street.”

Even now, having the right to bear arms makes him feel safe.

“I’m 80 years old,” Harper said. “I can’t run and I can’t fight.”

A little while later, up at the meeting house, universal background check advocates agreed gun violence had numerous causes but thought that checks were one place to start.

“Here in Pennsylvania, a person with a criminal background or a history of domestic violence or serious mental illness can currently buy a semi-automatic rifle … from a private seller, at a gun show, at a gun club or on the Internet without any background check,” Terry Rumsey, one of Delco United’s organizers, said. “This is like having two lines at the airport – one with security, one without. It makes no sense.”

This background check has support from U.S. Sen. Patrick Toomey, R-Pa., and U.S. Reps. Patrick Meehan, R-7, of Upper Darby and Bob Brady, D-1, of Philadelphia.

Chester Mayor John Linder, whose city experienced its 16th homicide Friday, said serious consequences are needed or those selling guns without background checks or for straw purchasers.

But, he also called for mental health legislation and equitable job access and education.

“If your gun is legally yours, join the fight to get our community members employed so the drug pusher won’t stand a chance,” he said. “If you are a responsible gun owner, join the fight to educate our children.”

He implored all to address the roots of gun-related murders, so not another mother, like Movita Johnson-Harrell, would ever have to face not being able to kiss her son good-bye.

The day of Jan. 12, 2011 started out like any other for the Lansdowne mother of four.

After spending a day with her children, she and her husband went to do some advocacy work and returned in time to tell her 18-year-old son, “Charles Johnson, do you know how much I love you?”

At 11:20 p.m., her phone rang.

“Mom, Chuck got shot,” her older son said.

Arriving at the Einstein Medical Center within minutes, she barely heard the doctor as he offered the litany of procedures done to try to save her son.

“I just want to see my son,” she said. “I just want to see my boy.”

She was taken to a room.

“In the middle of the room is this slab,” Johnson-Harrell said. “On the slab is a white bag. They zip the bag down to the middle of the back and my son was in it. My 18-year-old baby. They say, ‘You can’t touch him because it’s a homicide investigation.’

“And I begged them, ‘Please, let me kiss my son,’” she said she cried Saturday. “I wanted to touch his skin before it turned cold.”

Instead, she hunched down to his ear and whispered, “Charles Johnson, do you know how much I love you?”

That day – Jan. 15, 2011 – was three years to the day she made a vow.

“I turned to my husband and said, ‘It’s time to go,’” Johnson-Harrell said. “’My sons will not become statistics on the streets of Philadelphia.’”

They had already known nine young men who had been shot in their neighborhood. So, they moved to Lansdowne.

“I thought we were safe,” she said. “My son went to pick his sister up to make sure she got home safely and two boys walked up to the car and opened fire. We later found out that my son was killed in a case of mistaken identity.”

Johnson-Harrell said one of the boys had mental health issues and neither could have gotten the guns legally.

“We have to stop the access of guns to getting on the streets,” she said. “We have to contact our elected officials. We need legislation for safe gun laws, sensible gun laws.

“You cannot move away from this problem,” she said. “You cannot move away from this problem. We cannot afford another Virginia Tech. We cannot afford another Sandy Hook. We cannot afford another Charles Johnson.

“It has to stop,” Johnson-Harrell said. “And, it has to stop now and it starts with us.”

About the Author

Kathleen Carey is the lead business writer for the Daily Times. Reach the author at kcarey@delcotimes.com
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